Written By: Chris Mahelsick, NBCT – Austin, Texas
This is my 24th year as a public high school teacher in Texas. And every year, just after Winter Break, I experience a brief case of deja vu. The two weeks off cause a palpable shift when those school doors swing open the first week of January. Sometimes it’s because I see more substitutes as some teachers opt not to return, and others quietly tell me about where they’ve applied or what career shifts they’ve considered during their downtime. I do not fault them. These are challenging and often heartbreaking decisions for teachers who care deeply about this work. The realities of these choices are not abstract; this profession is as equally rewarding as it is demanding.
Educators across the country are asking important questions about career longevity and development. But in Texas, they carry particular weight. We have one of the largest public education systems in the nation and an accountability environment that increasingly emphasizes instructional quality and demonstrated accomplishment. What happens here often signals where educator policy and practice are headed next.
I’ve asked these questions myself. As department chair and an instructional leader at my school, I’ve deliberated these questions with many on my campus. And I hear them constantly from colleagues across the state.
When teachers don’t see viable pathways for growth, the cost isn’t just turnover. It’s the quiet loss of experience, instructional consistency, and leadership that students depend on. Districts are left to react to vacancies rather than strengthen classrooms. Teachers make career decisions midyear, when support can feel furthest away. And students lose the continuity that is critical for their long-term growth and learning. matters far more than we sometimes acknowledge.
The data makes this urgency clear. The Legislative Budget Board’s School Performance Review: Teacher Retention Strategies in Texas School Districts (June 2025) shows that nearly 78 percent of Texas educators reported considering leaving the classroom in the past year. Attrition reached a record 13.4 percent in 2022–23, and by 2023–24, turnover across districts climbed to 21.4 percent.
These numbers translate into real costs. Constant rehiring and retraining strain district budgets and weaken instructional stability. But beyond the numbers, they reflect a deeper question teachers are asking: Will I be supported to grow if I stay?
For me, one pathway that made a lasting difference was National Board Certification.
I became National Board Certified in 2008, and recertified in 2017, and it remains the most impactful professional development experience of my career, including earning my master’s degree. That’s because everything in the process is tied back to student learning.
Board Certification required me to demonstrate deep content knowledge and show how that knowledge translated into meaningful student achievement. I aligned my work directly with Texas standards, developed units and assessments, analyzed student work, and honestly reflected on what worked and what didn’t.
The process pushed me to think deeply about lesson planning, implementation, assessment, and data analysis. I had to show evidence of impact through video, student work, and authentic reflection. It wasn’t quick. It took time. But that investment fundamentally changed how I teach.
That focus on student learning stays with me. It becomes a way of thinking I carry into every classroom and every lesson.
National Board Certified teachers are accomplished educators who care deeply about their students and this profession. They are the types of teachers every student in this state deserves to have in their classroom. And as a mom, they’re the teachers I want for my own kids.
Texas has made clear that instructional quality and demonstrated classroom accomplishments matter. If the goal of our systems is to retain high-quality teachers, we must focus on pathways that strengthen teaching while educators are still in the classroom.
Midyear is a moment of reflection. It’s when the pace of the school year catches up, and teachers take stock of what’s working, what’s not, and what they can realistically sustain through the rest of the year. By the time end-of-year data is reviewed, that moment of consideration has often turned into a period, not a comma.
What we prioritize now will shape classrooms not just this year, but for years to come.
To my fellow teachers, I see you, and I understand the need for support in your professional growth. If you’re asking what growth can look like without leaving the classroom, explore pathways that deepen practice and center student learning.
To district leaders, please consider how evidence-based certification can support retention, instructional quality, and long-term stability.
To state education agencies and lawmakers, thank you for continuing to support us and examining how pathways like National Board Certification align with Texas’s direction and what they signal for the future of teaching.
Learn more about National Board Certification and how it supports instructional quality and professional growth.
